Middlesex coach Richard Scott was keen to keep a lid on expectations despite praising his sides battling performance in the field which guided them to victory over Essex.

This win follows progression in the T20 whilst they also sit top of the County Championship heading into the season's final weeks.

Their final Royal London One Day Cup fixture is at Lord's against local rivals Surrey on Tuesday and a win could see them progress again.

Despite recent success, Scott was keen to keep everyone's feet on the ground and maintain that everyone must keep working hard.

He said: "You go into every season wanting to win something we find ourselves now in a very strong position in most competitions.

James Franklin

“Of course it's everyone's ambition playing to win something but with the amount of fixtures coming up you just take each game as it comes.

“I think we're an honest group of men trying their best for the club and we find ourselves in a good spot."

A below par batting performance at Lord's had the home side in trouble trying to defend 219 after captain James Franklin had top scored with 55.

Essex came out hard in the capital and opener Nick Browne was going well on 79 when he was cleaned bowled by the Middlesex skipper.

A steady fall of wickets followed and particularly strong figures from Franklin (3-25) and Toby Roland-Jones (4-40) helped curb the run rate and the hosts eventually won by four runs.

Scott said: "You always think at Lord's that 220 on a fast pitch is going to be hard to defend and we'd have to bowl well and hold our catches.

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“But as their innings developed it became clear that if we hung in there it would prove difficult to score. We kept true to our beliefs and it worked out for us in the end.

“We were poor in the power play so got driven quite a bit and paid for that. But once we found our length it became evident that that was key. I was really pleased with how the boys rallied and the spirit they showed."

Although the immediate future looks bright at Lord's, Middlesex had gone three games without a win so victory over Essex was key in creating some kind of momentum ahead of important matches against Surrey this week before the T20 quarter final away at Northamptonshire on 9th August.

This week could also see the return of England seamer Steven Finn after several games away. He has been included in the Test squad to take on Pakistan, although Scott expects the bowler to play some part.

Elsewhere Nick Compton could be back in the Middlesex batting order after appearing for the second XI recently and could fill in after a few of the team, including Sam Robson, picked up slight knocks in Sunday's win.